It is difficult to estimate the enterprise value of a startup company in its early stages. VCs can only calculate a few figures based on shareholding ratio and investment capital, which does not mean that the company is truly "worth" that money.
For example, "Samadhi Zhenhuo"'s first venture capital investment was US$1 million, and Ele.me's post-investment valuation was US$2.5 million, accounting for 40% of the shares.
In the second round, Matrix Partners China led the investment, and Samadhi Zhenhuo followed with another one million, but the total shareholding ratio dropped to 37%.
For the third time, Sequoia Capital led the investment with 25 million US dollars, and Samadhi Zhenhuo followed with an investment of 4 million US dollars.
Because the post-money valuation is as high as US$90 million, Samadhi Zhenhuo’s shareholding ratio has dropped to 31%.
As for this fourth round, the post-money valuation is US$500 million, and Volkswagen plans to invest US$80 million.
Therefore, the value of the undiluted equity in the hands of Samadhi Zhenhuo has reached US$130 million.
If Sanmai Zhenhuo were to withdraw as a whole and buy this part of the equity, the other venture capital companies would not be willing to contribute the money, and Dianping would lack financial resources.
So after another negotiation, Lu Yan got 42.5 million US dollars and was out of Ele.me.
The initial investment was only two million US dollars, which was more than ten times the profit.
Once the venture capital project is selected, it will be quite profitable.
But this little money really means nothing to him now, and he can't even buy a top-level business jet.
After the Ele.me matter was resolved, he placed a purchase order for a Gulfstream G650 worth 460 million yuan and a Robinson R44 helicopter worth 6 million yuan.
Chen Ruile was so happy that she could hardly walk.
After a period of time, Lu Yan focused his main energy on Meituan’s food delivery, preparing to face the challenge from Ele.me.
Some people within the company don't understand Lu Yan's operations.
The soldiers at the front are using their lives. Why is Your Majesty supporting the enemy?
You have so many shares in Ele.me, which is equivalent to tying a chain around their necks. Why bother to untie it now?
Or just acquire it directly to dominate the takeout market?
Lu Yan called together the senior executives of Meituan Waimai to give a speech.
The general idea of the lyrics is: "Our opponent is not Ele.me, but the capital that pursues profits. Without Ele.me, there would be other food delivery companies supported by capital to compete with us for the market."
Just like Alipay has dominated the mobile payment market for many years, but almost overnight, it was attacked by WeChat Pay in Pearl Harbor and lost half of its country.
A team that has not fought tough battles is not a good team. It will only be big but weak, and its weaknesses will be more easily discovered.
Compared to those unknown potential opponents, we at least know this one better!"
In another time and space, Meituan and Ele.me were divided between the two, and there was still a tailwind entering the game. As long as there are profits and opportunities, there will always be opponents, and no one can sit firmly on the throne.
These words reached Zhang Ahao's ears, and the latter suddenly felt that he was being provoked.
In fact, he has always been dissatisfied
Entrepreneurs can certainly grow their companies quickly by taking venture capital from VCs. However, with each round of financing, the shares in their hands also shrink rapidly.
For example, Zhang Ahao's stake in Ele.me has shrunk to 6%. At another time when the company was packaged and sold to Ali, his stake in Ele.me was already less than 2%.
When you say you are a founder, you are actually working for capital.
In contrast, several companies established by Lu Yan started with high amounts of their own funds. They were very cautious in financing and retained as many shares as possible.
Zhang Ahao has a strong style. After receiving 80 million in financing from the public, he once again rapidly expanded his team.
The number of employees has increased from less than 200 to 5,000. When new employees join the company, they first take three days of boxing classes to train their wolf nature.
Then we rapidly expanded the number of cities where we can open our website from 12 to 200, just to have a good fight with Meituan Waimai.
Lu Yan was chatting and dealing with it. Ele.me's financing process was all under his control, so he naturally made preparations in advance.
In the summer of 2014, the two companies were very competitive. They both spent a lot of money to provide subsidies, and finally quickly started to develop the takeout market.
To be honest, before the subsidy war between the two companies, takeout was not so popular.
For users, the first impression is that it is expensive!
But with Meituan Takeaway and Ele.me, user benefits are coming.
Many hard-working students are surprised to find that ordering a takeaway delivered to their dormitory often costs less than five yuan and comes with free drinks. Who the hell wants to eat in the cafeteria!
Some of the school cafeterias that were affected even posted a post downstairs in their dormitories saying, "I eat in the cafeteria and I am proud of it."
There is no way, Internet companies are too ruthless.
At this time, those involved in the chaos were actually not only Meituan Waimai and Ele.me, but also Qiandu Waimai, which had recently entered the game.
After Seohong invested heavily in buying the "App Market", it discovered that this thing had limited traffic, and food delivery had become a new trend, so it invested heavily in it.
And Ah Li's Ma Yun is not idle either. He has created Tao Diandian and wants to get a share of the takeaway market.
A few companies are fighting each other, and various subsidies have been introduced, forcing the whole people to accept this new lifestyle. If you are tired after working all day, it is cheaper to do extra work yourself, it is difficult not to be tempted!
Even Lu Yan himself would occasionally ask his secretary to order takeout for him to experience life.
Inside the Meituan Food Delivery branch in Shenghai, Lu Yan was reading a report about a fight between the delivery guys from two companies.
The subsidy war has added fuel to the fire. In the past month, employee conflicts between the two companies have broken out.
While he was thinking about it, there was a knock on the office door, and Ruan Mengyao walked in carrying two lunch boxes.
He smiled and said: "Stop being busy, brother-in-law, hurry up and eat!"
When she came to Shenghai, she initially joined Yixing Taxi Service. However, based on her Northeastern accent, surname and appearance, many people guessed that she was Lu Yan's sister-in-law.
There were not many people in Yi Xing Taxi who wanted to pursue her, and there were also many male superiors who contacted her frequently in the name of discussing work, which made Ruan Mengyao extremely annoyed.
With no other choice, Lu Yan asked her to come to Meituan in the name of his senior assistant.
Ruan Mengyao was quite satisfied with this position. She followed her brother-in-law in business negotiations and came into contact with people who were either rich or noble.
It's not like Yi Xing's side, where all I met were guys who thought they were young talents.
Putting the food box on the table, Ruan Mengyao said: "Brother-in-law, let's eat first!"
"Um!"
Lu Yan responded and opened the lunch box. One portion of braised mutton and one portion of Youxian dried fragrant rice were ordered from a Hunan restaurant near the company.
Ruan Mengyao opened the rice, took a stool and sat down opposite Lu Yan.
"Are you getting used to it recently?"
He was quite busy at work most of the time. He thought Ruan Mengyao would complain endlessly with her cute and naive temperament, but unexpectedly, she actually did a good job. Lu Yan considered transferring this girl out to take charge of a certain stall.
I'm just here to get some experience. There's no reason to let my sister-in-law be my assistant for a long time!